Plastic is commonly used by painters, e.g., for masking and/or covering items to protect them from coming into contact with wet paint. However, the plastic used by painters (also referred to herein as painter's plastic) is sold in large quantities (e.g., rolls) that are housed in boxes that frequently fall apart before the entirety of the large quantity of plastic can be used. The majority of boxes in which the painter's plastic is sold are made from cardboard or similar materials. Thus, exposure to liquids (e.g., rain, puddles, paint, etc.) can cause deterioration of the box. As a result, the painter's plastic is exposed and as a result becomes unraveled and/or damaged.
Moreover, because painter's plastic is sold in large quantities, pieces of different sizes are cut off the roll to fulfil a particular use. For example, a 10 foot long piece of painter's plastic may be cut off the roll to cover an object having a length of 8 feet, while a 5 foot long piece of painter's plastic may be cut off the roll to cover an object having a length of 2 feet.
Further still, the painter's plastic is folded over on itself multiple times. Thus cuts made to the painter's plastic that are not straight, e.g., crooked, jagged, etc., are amplified when the folded material is unfolded. This is particularly undesirable when using the painter's plastic for masking.
Conventional boxes housing the material serve as poor cutting surfaces. After only a few cuts using a surface of a conventional box as a cutting surface, the box becomes structurally degraded. As a result, the rate of deterioration for the box is increased and the box quickly becomes an unviable cutting surface as well. It is nearly impossible to achieve straight cuts in painter's plastic using conventional products.
In sharp contrast, various embodiments described herein include a device that has a durable cutting surface for making straight cuts in a material. Furthermore, different devices describe below desirably introduce a reusable housing for the material that may also serve as a carrying case, as will be described in further detail below.